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Over 1,422 reviews forNew Haven Remodeling Contractors from people just like you.

A

"My home was built in 1906. 2 contractors came to discuss this job with me before I found

and Design. They disappeared before even giving" ...More me a proposal. When I saw the mess that accompanied taking down the ceiling in my basement, I understood why. I later learned that coal dust tended to accumulate in this space in these old homes.Stoyan and his crew did the job as quickly and neatly as possible. I had another heating and plumbing contractor then come in to re-do those things. That went smoothly and Stoyan worked well with them. The crew then renovated the bathroom and it is lovely. It is exactly as I envisioned it and is cute, cozy, and workable. I couldn't be happier. I will finish the rest of the basement next year and will work with

again then.

-Lori J.

A

"Job walk went fine. Service provider was more interested in providing overall package than just the "parts and pieces" approach that I was looking for." ...More Representative was very professional, thorough and courteous.

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Inspiration & Ideas

Angie's Answers

An itemized list / cost breakdown, more often than not is used against the contractor when it is shared with other builders who will then beat it.

Good contractors use good people, and good people cost more. Just the cost of having the appropriate insurance / bond can be the difference between winning a job or losing it ot a 'lower bid'.

It is the rule of three; there is Good, Cheap and Fast. You can have any two: Good and Cheap, won't be Fast; Good and Fast, won't be Cheap; Cheap and Fast, won't be Good!

When comparing bids, it isn't the cheapest or the 'nicest' person you should select. You should understand why there is a large price difference (it shows there are gaps in your design program or what you have asked for specifically, which means there may be arguments later). If most of the bids are in line, and one is way high or way low, you want to know why before dismissing or selecting them.

No. Heck no. Here's a good example. We very recently needed to find someone to install about 500 square feet of exotic wood flooring (we already have the materials). We contacted about 12-15 top-rated Angieslist contractors. Out of the few who did get back to us, we got 5 quotes, 2 of them were literally just over the phone. They "didn't feel it would be necessary to even see the space".

Here were the bids:

$4000 (sight unseen), $2800 (sight unseen), $2500, $1500, $1450

We didn't "share our budget for this". Why would we? We asked them to bid the job. That's it. All of them should be well-qualified and they are all highly rated. We were interested in how THEY value their time/resources - for an apples/apples job.

Do you still think that you should tell them about your budget? Your choice. From my standpoint it isn't their business. I'm asking them to bid on a project. Invariably I'll get some very high bids, medium bids and a few more reasonable ones - ALL from "highly rated contractors".

Herlonginc's answer stated that it is not the contractor's job to pay for materials and labor to do the job. I say baloney - a reputable, established contractor has the funds (or a business operations line of credit) to "carry" the job between interim or partial payments, each of which should be keyed to completion of distinct easily measured mileposts in the job, and for a homeowner I would say should be in not more than 20% increments for jobs exceeding a week or so. For shorter jobs, then an initial payment, 50% completion, and completion would be normal. His cost of carry funds is part of his cost of doing business, and is figured as part of his overhead.Bear in mind when he is buying materials and paying labor, his materials he typically pays for on a 10-30 day invoice, and his labor typically a week or two after they work, so he is not really "fronting" that much money if you are giving him weekly or biweekly interim payments, on a typical residential job.

If he does not have the funds to buy materials (excepting possibly deposit on special-order or luxury items, which still typically are 10-30 day invoiceable to him) and hire personnel then he is a fly-by-night operation, and he should not be bidding that size job. You should never (other than MAYBE an earnest deposit of not more than the LESSER of 10% or $5000) let the payments get ahead of the approved/inspected work progress - typically payment should be 10-20% BEHIND the progress, with at least 10% retained at the effective end of work until final inspections and completion of the final "punchlist".

That promotes rapid continuation of the work, discourages the all-too common nightmare of contractors taking on more work than they can handle so they leave your job for weeks or months to go work on someone else's job (frequently to start that someone else's new job so he can get the job), and does not leave you out a tremendous amount of cash if he does not finish and you have to hire another contractor to finish the job. Remember, if you have to hire a new contractor to finish the job, he will charge you a lot more than the original bid to finish someone else's unfinished mess.

This may seem cynical, but having started in the construction business about 50 years ago and seeing the shenanigans that a lot of contractors pull you cannot be too safe. You have to remember contractors are like any other people - I would say maybe 10% are outright crooks, another 25% or so will pull a fast one or overcharge if the opportunity presents itself, maybe 30% will do the work but not any better than they are forced to, about 25% are good conscientious reputable workmen, and the last 10% or so are really spectacular - conscientious, fair, and efficient craftsmen. This top 35% are the only ones you should have bidding in the first place. Therefore, only get bids from long-term reputable firms (so you shake out the marginal short-timers with less experience and also generally less ability to finish the job on budget and schedule), only those that have good RECENT references, and preferably with excellent word-of-mouth recommendation from people you know and trust. That way, you are starting right off with the cream of the crop, so hopefully whichever one bids low should be a good choice.

NEVER start with bids, then check the references of the low bidder - why even consider a vendor or contractor who you do not have faith in from the start ? Get references and short-list you possibles BEFORE you ask for bids.

Low bids - that is another matter - commonly the low bidder is NOT who you want, especially if he is significantly lower than several others, which might mean he is desperate for work, made a math error, or did not correctly figure the entire scope of work. You want a reasonable bid with someone you connect with and trust - that is worth a lot more in the success of the job than the absolute lowest bid.

For this type of job, you need plans and specs from an Architectural/Engineering firm before thinking about contractors - and to get a building permit.
Ben's method would work and done incrementally could cost well over $100,000 plus as he says, but this not really the most economic way to approach this big a job. A House Mover or Foundation Underpinning specialty company can usually slide your house onto a whole new foundation, or jack it up on steel beams and hold it there while a basement is dug underneath it, without any intermediate piers. The jacking/move cost would probably be on the order of $30-40,000, and a new basement probably about $40-50,000 - rough ballpark, though I have been involved in some 1000-1500SF single story jobs that went for under $70,000 total.
I have been involved in a fair number of these type jobs - and the way the numbers come out, if there is room on the property to move the house, it is almost always nearly as cheap or cheaper to build an equivalent square footage (basement plus ground level) addition rather than add a basement under the house, and that way your new footage is half above ground so worth more on resale, plus you do not lose use of the house for a month or two. Second cheapest is usually sliding house to a new foundation, if property is large enough to do this - though house is totally cut off from utilities for a week to three. Most expensive, and usually only done in tight city environments or with full 2 story or higher houses, is adding the foundation in place, though your utility interruptions should be on the order of hours at a time rather than days or weeks.
Talk to an architect - I think you will quickly lean towards the addition option rather than adding a basement - it is just too expensive to deepen foundations in most cases, plus you WILL get cracking in the house and possible water and sewer pipe problems in a move/underpinning job, which is not the case with an addition. This become more likely the case since you want to add 8 feet off the back of the home anyway - so why not just enlarge the addition and do it all that way - MUCH simpler, and MUCH less disruption of your life, and you get much higher resale return on your investment.

Remodeling reviews in New Haven

Nice couple, eager to provide good service, will need to return to complete project, but willing to do so.”

- Roxanna C.

A

Rating

“

Super job! Three man crew started and completed the work in under 3 days.

and his team were professional and prompt from the initial bid through clean-up and billing. The fence was inspected by the CE and permitted without hassle. AAC has my highestendorsement.”

- Deborah B.

A

Rating

“

I've known

, President of

for over 12 years now.

and his crew have done a Great job of completing several projects for me over the years.

and his Team sucessfully completed two very large home addition (Family Room & Master Bedroom & Bath) projects ...More for my wife and I, and we couldn't be happier with the quality of the craftmanship.
Just the other day, 7/24/15,

was over at our home, and noticed that the Brick molding was starting to Rot on our storm door. I asked

if he would be able to work me into his busy schedule.

's response was "Absolutely", as is usual for

.
I was pleasantly surprised that

was able to work us in this week, (7/29/15) and

himself removed the storm door, replaced the Brick Molding with Top Quality PVC Brick Molding (which will never Rot again), and re-hung the storm door in just a couple of hours.
I would recommend

to anyone who is in need of any home repairs, construction, or any home remodeling needs.

Constructions prices are very reasonable, they are prompt, professional and always follow through until the customer is completely satisfied...Most importantly, the work is done right, and they always use quality materials...Great Job

!
Respectfully,

”

- Robert W.

A

Rating

“

I can't say enough about how wonderful my experience with Agape was! From the first moment I spoke with

on the phone, met her for the project planning, met her son

for further bidding and planning, through the interactions with the project lead and employees on my project - all was just perfect. ...More

was exceptionally responsive anytime I had a question or wanted to make a change to the project (which I did several times and she never became exasperated with me at all). When the actual work began, the project lead Bill met me at the house with a folder full of details he went over with me to make sure everything was as I wanted. Their terms were spelled out in advance and I thought that was fair - everything from when I would be expected to pay for what, any supplies they needed from me, how they would handle change orders, etc. They were beyond professional - arriving on time each day, working straight through the day and leaving no earlier than 4 or 4:30. All their workers are employees - not contractors - and this shows! I wasn't living in the house while the work was being done - but even as such they cleaned up after themselves every day and were very careful to be respectful of noise or mess. My project took about 9 days. They didn't mind if I sat and stared at them while they worked - or if I never even showed up the whole day. When the work was done, Bill walked through everything with me, gave me a whole additional day to look over everything my self and give them a punch list of anything I wanted touched up or that wasn't to my liking. Funny thing was that I didn't have a single thing to add - the job had been done as requested, on time, and perfectly. The quality of the work was exemplary. I will admit that their quoted price was higher than any other contractor but I had a feeling that the level of professionalism, quality, and communication would be worth it to reduce my stress on this project and I was right. You definitely get what you pay for. Thank you

and

. You will be doing work for me again!!”

- Margaret B.

A

Rating

“

's bid was not the lowest we received but not too far off. I met with

initially and I felt very comfortable with him from the start. He is the reason I opted to go with

. We were in a bit of a rush as we were about to have a baby and wanted work completed prior to that occurring. ...More

promised he would complete the work on time or earlier than the baby's Due date. True to his word, the work was finalized almost a week early.
Any time there was an issue with something,

made sure that we were happy with the end result before finalizing. He was easy to work with and very accommodating. My one criticism would be that we didn't have much of a warning on some occasions as to when certain supplies were needed so we were scrambling to get them. To

's defense, we had a tight window we were dealing with so that may have

to some of the short notice.

was not always present as work was being done, but did follow up with his guys and us to make sure as few issues as possible arose. He was there enough of the time to keep an eye on the progress though.
Overall, I would recommend

to anyone looking for a good contractor true to his word. I would absolutely use him again as well.

”

- Cory B.

A

Rating

“

Contractors, Inc., based in Silver Spring is an excellent company. We asked them to provide a quote in building a sunroom detached to the existing house with a deck. They did a marvelous job. The owners Mr.

and his wife Mrs.

are a professional and very trustworthy team that makes ...More life easy for any of their customers. They have a hardworking group of craftsman who are trustworthy and courteous. Aside from minor glitches, Mr.

was very patient and truly listened to our desires. He made sure he explained all possible options and quoted reasonable price for the extras without giving us a hard time. These guys followed the created design, making it exactly as it was planned. Everyone in this company, from the person
answering the phone (Mrs.

) to the owners and workers cared and worked hard to satisfy the customer. Mr.

and his team exceeded all of our expectations. He made sure the county inspectors were satisfied with the questions asked and made them happy with what the inspectors requested. The end was everything and more than we were hoping for. The workers showed a high level of responsiveness and respect. We enjoyed working with

. We would definitely use this company again and would recommend you and anyone without reservation.‎
Mr.

and

, you made our family and community very happy and proud of our new sun room addition. Bravo and thank you!‎”

- Claudette B.

A

Rating

“

I've used this contractor in the past because he gave an exceptionally competitive price. He has now proved himself to me twice with the lowest price, excellent workmanship, and overall professionalism with regard to working to his estimate and not giving me any unpleasant surprises. I give the man points for integrity and getting the job done ...More right the first time.”

- Brian L.

F

Rating

“

was easy to contact the first time and the initial review of the project seemed to go well. We spent about an hour reviewing the work I am planning. He had good ideas and was very pleasant. He said he would provide a high very high level quote and if it was in the ball park I would pay for his architect to do the drawings ...More and we could finalize the estimate. I received no response and called him after about 3 weeks later. I was assured he would call me back. I have waited about 3 more weeks and still no response. I really feel like I have wasted my time on this.”